The dynamics associated with the formation bathorhodopsin (batho) intermediate in the room-temperature rhodopsin (Rh-RT) photosequence are investigated with picosecond transient absorption (PTA) spectroscopy. The transient bathe concentration is continuously monitored via absorbance changes with 2-ps time resolution for time delays as long as 500 ps, By resolving both the (5 +/- 1)-ps formation time constant of bathe from photorhodopsin and measuring a constant bathe concentration over the 20-500-ps interval, these PTA data bridge earlier studies which measured each of these processes separately but not both simultaneously. The PTA data presented here are compared both with other time-resolved absorption studies from which contradictory kinetic results have been obtained and with recently reported picosecond time-resolved vibrational studies (coherent anti-Stokes Raman) of room-temperature batho.